Exactly one year on from returning to work after having Trent, I returned to work again – this time after having Roisin. The only difference this time was that I wasn’t dreading the thought, probably because I knew that it was only for three days a week as opposed to the five days I had previously worked, which was both physically and emotionally draining.

Driving through the gates I felt like I had never been away, and when I walked into the office everyone was brilliant and could not have made me feel better. Despite not dreading the prospect of returning to work, I have to confess to feeling slightly panicked, I thought people might think I looked fat, and I wondered whether I would still be able to do my job.

Once I had settled back in and discussed what my role would involve, I got down to work straight away, and have been getting on brilliantly ever since. I don’t know if it is because it is all new again, but I seem have a new lease of life and I feel great. Here’s hoping it lasts…

We thought Christmas 2007 was mad in our house… it turned out to be nothing compared with this one. We had planned not to go too mad with presents – having just moved house, cavity wall insulation and new windows to keep the children warm seemed to be more of a priority. That’s what we told ourselves anyway…

When it came down to it there were masses of presents. Even though Roisin is too young to understand what Christmas is all about, we wanted to treat her in exactly the same as Trent – so of course, we ended up spending more than last year. Then when the rest of the family arrived with their presents it was utter chaos. We did however donate most of Trent’s old toys to his nursery, and encouraged him to join in packing them up and delivering them. We want the children to understand the importance of sharing, and like any other parents, we don’t want spoilt children, but it’s sometimes hard to get the right balance because, of course, we want to be able to give them the best of everything.

Christmas day flew by in a whirlwind. After the presents were unwrapped there were toys covering the living room floor, we left them where they were to head off for dinner at Nanna’s, afterwards everyone came back to our place to watch Trent run around with his toys. Eventually he was so exhausted that he dropped to the ground and fell asleep. There were so many new toys that we decided to save some in their boxes, we’ll introduce them throughout the year as the children get bored with the others.

The days following Christmas were filled with lots of family walks, me pushing Roisin in her buggy and dad getting a sore back from leaning over to hold Trent on his new electronic quad bike (a generous present from nanna and granddad).

Mam and the gang on Christmas Day:

Roisin in her Christmas dress:  

Trent on Christmas day:

Trent in his new Bob Dressing Gown and Hat:  

Trent posing in his new shirt and tie:  

Why by presents when boxes down so well?  

Trent with his new toys:  

Trent and his new quad bike:  

Initially Trent seemed to enjoy having a sister around. He’d be really affectionate and let her snuggle up to his precious Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy dolls, but lately the relationship seems to have taken a turn for the worse…

Over the past few weeks I have noticed that at any opportunity Trent will throw whatever is in his hands at Roisin. Even scarier, he checks to see if anyone is watching first. It’s almost like he is planning it to get maximum attention. Initially I would tell Trent off but this didn’t seem to have any impact, so I moved on to tapping his hand, but he would just laugh at me. He is a tough little boy and nothing scares or fazes him, but he isn’t mean, so I decided to try reasoning with him instead. Each time Trent threw something I told him how upset his sister was and how much he was hurting her. This approach seems to be working, and he now cuddles Roisin to make it better.

I had also noticed that if I was spending time with Roisin, and Trent was trying to get my attention, he would hit his sister. I now make sure that when Trent is trying to talk to me, or show me something, I pay attention or Roisin gets it! I know that kids will be kids, and that some of the incidents are in fact accidents, like yesterday when Trent wanted to show his sister his new trainers, so put them on her head whilst she was lying on the floor! Roisin does get her own back though, if she manages to get a grip of Trent’s dummy he doesn’t get it back and if he tries she claws at him with her nails.

 

Trent and Roisin share an affectionate moment!

 

Last time we visited Ducky’s Park Farm Trent could not walk and insisted on crawling around amongst the animals. This time it was a whole new ball game… From the minute we arrived it was non-stop until we left. Luckily Roisin was snuggled up in the rear seat of the double pram and was quite content to surface only for feeding and changing. I am learning quickly that if Trent needs to eat, it’s best to do it before he sees the attractions. Once he knows what’s on offer, there is no hope of sitting him still long enough to eat, and if I do strap him into a high chair he just screams until I’m so embarrassed by the scene he is causing that I let him out.

Trent absolutely loved interacting with the animals, and really enjoyed feeding milk to a baby reindeer. He also had great fun when dad took him on a tractor ride – Roisin and I watched from the sidelines. There were heaps of other fun things, including a trampoline and a bouncy castle. Last time Trent was too small and shy to go on these, but this time he jumped straight on. I think a lot of this confidence is thanks to his weekly visits to nursery. He loves going and soon his sister will be joining him.

All in all again Ducky’s was a great day out, in fact Trent had so much fun that the only problems came when it was time to go home!

Trent finds the farm visit much more enjoyable now that he can walk!

 

 

On the 15^th of November we finally moved house after endless months of messing about with solicitors. As we were swapping house with the lady who was buying our house we had thought that it would be easier than a normal move. It didn’t quite happen as smoothly as we’d hoped though, especially on moving day, which was particularly chaotic as we were moving things into – and out of – both houses at the same time! Luckily Trent and Roisin spent the day with their great aunt so I had two less things to worry about.

Now that everything has been moved in, and the kids are back home, we’re trying to get a bit of order in the house. We have already decorated both Trent and Roisin’s bedrooms – it was my priority to make sure that the kids were comfortable. We didn’t want to ruin Trent’s routine as he is now at an age where he understands what is going on around him. He is over the moon with his new Bob the Builder bedroom; complete with duvet, curtains, lampshade, bin, chair and cushions. For the time being Roisin is making use of the Zeddy and Parsnip accessories that Trent has grown out of, they are all neutral colours so work equally well for her. As soon as she becomes more interested in a theme we will decorate her room again.

I’m taking the rest of the house one step at a time. We don’t want to miss out on our children’s precious years, whilst concentrating on decorating, so we are planning to do bits and pieces as and when we can. For now it’s time to start planning a special Christmas – our first as a family of four!